Here’s Bozzie (Bingo’s sister)  Now she’s not a really adventurous dog so we haven’t had a lot of problems with her, but unfortunately she does have arthritis.  We first became aware of this when she yelped each time she got up.  Poor old girl!  Check out the Pet Care centre to see if your cat or dog has any of the common symptoms of Arthritis.

Arthritis is a common complaint for cats and dogs, and of course we want to give them the best quality of life by helping with pain management, especially as they get older.

So how much does it cost to manage Bozzie’s arthritis? 

Well quite a lot as it happens!  She has Rimadyl chews which cost  $546 per year, plus Synovan for her joints every six months which amounts to $360 per year.  So the cost to manage arthritis for Bozzie is close on $1,000 each year and that doesn’t include her 6 monthly check ups and anything else that may crop up (she also has a skin condition, so fleas are our enemy too).  So all up, well over $1,000 per year, every year at a minimum.

Of course the cost is not going to go away.  She’s an old girl, and it’s a chronic (recurring) condition. 

This is when pet insurance comes into it’s own.  We really can’t predict what’s going to happen to our pets any more than we can predict what will happen to us regarding our health.  So it’s important to have dog insurance or cat insurance in place so you have the means to pay the vet bills when something goes not according to plan! Remember, pre-existing conditions are excluded from all insurance policies so there’s no point in waiting for the illness to occur before you get insurance as it won’t be covered.